The great Rise Stevens dies at 99

[operalover21]

The beloved American mezzo Rise Stevens has died at at the age of 99. One of the greatest of all 20th century opera singers she was, perhaps, best known to the public for her film work including her starring role opposite Bing Crosby in the Oscar-winning Best Picture of 1944 "Going My Way." She sang a couple of songs and -- great story -- her bosses at the MET wouldn't let her sing Carmen until she did it in the film. They immediately cast her in it and she became the definitive Carmen of her generation.

 

Rest in peace.

[TruHart1]

Rise Stevens. She is one of the reasons I got completely hooked on opera as a teenager, first listening to that old classic RCA Carmen recording and then hearing a pirate of the Met broadcast of Mignon, which I believe she has been quoted as saying was her favorite role. She was truly a great singer and a great lady.

[JackTwist]

The Incredible Rise Stevens: Rest in Peace.

 

http://fc07.deviantart.net/fs71/i/2010/264/d/5/the_incredible_rise_stevens_by_callasiano-d2z858r.jpg

 

http://www.nea.gov/honors/opera/gallery/portraitImages/RiseStevens.jpg

 

June 11, 1913 - March 20, 2013

[Phil_musc]

Thanks, opera lover, for posting, although this is sad news. I remember as a child hearing her on my parents' records. Great voice, and quite a Carmen.

[Toulouse]

A truly wonderful opera singer and a woman of charm, beauty, and great talent. Few seem to know of her today but that's like not knowing of the Atlantic Ocean.

[Epigonos]

I grew up with Rise Stevens' Carmen. My mother adored her. Not only was she a great mezzo she was also a great singing actress. In an interview years ago she made two funny points about her preparation for performances of Carmen. 1. She would use body paint to cover her body under her costume because she frequent ripped the costume to shreds. 2. She always wore cheap earrings for the role because she frequently lost one and some member of the cast would keep it as a souvenir. She was a joy.

[Diverdan]

A tragic loss to all, and one remarkable woman, not only for her voice and mastery of the various demanding roles, but for being one of the true classic ladies of opera, with very little of the ego that seems to plague opera singers today. Fortunately many of her earlier recordings have been remastered and are available digitally so they are even more special.

[operalover21]

A truly wonderful opera singer and a woman of charm, beauty, and great talent. Few seem to know of her today but that's like not knowing of the Atlantic Ocean.

 

It kind of goes along with my recent thread (for which I was chastised) about our common cultural knowledge. There was a time in this country when we all had a common cultural knowledge and Rise Stevens would have been among those that simply everyone would know. Today, there are very few people of quality that everyone knows. Everything has become more fractured and splintered. I suppose with my generation a whole common cultural knowledge will simply disappear. And it's not about age. When I was 19, I knew who Rise Stevens was just like I knew who Fred Astaire was and Elvis Presley and Mary Pickford (even though all 3 were from different cultural times). Today's generation pretty much only knows today's culture. Well, I don't want to go off on that.

 

I was very lucky to have known Rise Stevens over the years. Not well, but as you do when you are involved in the opera world. I most recently saw her a year ago at the MET. She was in a wheelchair but her mind was active and alert. She greeted one and all with that brilliant smile and always remembered your name. She was bubbly and friendly and always full of enthusiasm. She was simply a complete class act and there are so few of them left among us today. I remember the stories she told. Such wonderful memories.

 

She is going to be sorely missed. My condolences to Nick, her son, and her granddaughter.

[+ Gar1eth]

It kind of goes along with my recent thread (for which I was chastised) about our common cultural knowledge. There was a time in this country when we all had a common cultural knowledge and Rise Stevens would have been among those that simply everyone would know. Today, there are very few people of quality that everyone knows. Everything has become more fractured and splintered. I suppose with my generation a whole common cultural knowledge will simply disappear. And it's not about age. When I was 19, I knew who Rise Stevens was just like I knew who Fred Astaire was and Elvis Presley and Mary Pickford (even though all 3 were from different cultural times). Today's generation pretty much only knows today's culture. Well, I don't want to go off on that.

 

I was very lucky to have known Rise Stevens over the years. Not well, but as you do when you are involved in the opera world. I most recently saw her a year ago at the MET. She was in a wheelchair but her mind was active and alert. She greeted one and all with that brilliant smile and always remembered your name. She was bubbly and friendly and always full of enthusiasm. She was simply a complete class act and there are so few of them left among us today. I remember the stories she told. Such wonderful memories.

 

She is going to be sorely missed. My condolences to Nick, her son, and her granddaughter.

 

The opera world- whether for good or for ill is more rarefied. I'm in my 50's and know next to nothing except for maybe a very few major stars. And I don't think I've ever heard of her. I think the time when opera stars might have been much more common knowledge would have been the days before radio when you sat around and listened to the old Victrola through the days when radio was king and on into the days of TV variety shows. I believe the obituary said Risse retired in 1961- the year of my birth.

 

Gman

[Phil_musc]

The opera world- whether for good or for ill is more rarefied. I'm in my 50's and know next to nothing except for maybe a very few major stars. And I don't think I've ever heard of her. I think the time when opera stars might have been much more common knowledge would have been the days before radio when you sat around and listened to the old Victrola through the days when radio was king and on into the days of TV variety shows. I believe the obituary said Risse retired in 1961- the year of my birth.

 

Then you are old enough to remember the days when there were 3 major networks on TV (with PBS coming somewhat later). This hallowed time (so gracious is/was the time) also was before satellite radio, and obviously cable TV wasn't even on the drawing board. Yes, there were other TV channels - UHF channels - the stuff above channel 13 on your dial. As our choices have proliferated we have become fractured as a society with no real national culture. There was a time (you were even alive then) when most of middle America watched essentially the same TV shows and there was a sense of a collective cultural identity. As a sideline point, I remember Leonard Bernstein's NY Phil programs being broadcast on TV - and these were shown on Network stations, not PBS. There was a time when these things fell under the rubric of the air waves belonging to everyone and as such the network people had an obligation (legal at that) to present cultural, edifying fare for the viewing public. There was a sense of having to educate the public to have a more informed citizenry. That thinking, sadly IMHO, has vanished from the country's mindset. Now everything is about making a dollar. I know I must sound like the voice of Methuselah here, but I'm not sure that as a society and a nation we are better off for all the choices.

[JT Brooklyn]

99 Year's that's a Hellava Run! My condolences to "Whipped Guy" who regardless of the WG Tag is one of the "True Opera MET Patrons" on Daddys and most knowledgeable on the subject!

[TruHart1]

For those who never heard of Ms. Stevens, the obituary from the NY Times:

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/22/arts/music/rise-stevens-opera-singer-dies-at-99.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0

[whipped guy]

Well, I thank Brooklyn Guy for his kind words, but I don't consider myself neither to be the "most knowledgeable" person regarding things operatic... nor am I technically a "Patron of the MET"... Though I have been getting just a few too many phone solicitations of late attempting to get me to become one... that and to donate my life savings to "the cause"... but it ain't gonna happen!!!!

 

In any event, Rise Stevens was one the great mezzos of not only her day... but any day. However, she performed and made most of her recordings in the pre stereo era... and that has made her work less accessible to the average present day collector. Still, in her day she was a household name... the precursor of today's cross-over artist. My non-operatically informed parents certainly knew who she was... but as OL21 notes above that was a different time and a different era. At any rate, that she lived to the ripe old age of 99 and still had all her faculties virtually up until the very end is a blessing indeed. Would that we all could be so fortunate!

[operalover21]

The opera world- whether for good or for ill is more rarefied. I'm in my 50's and know next to nothing except for maybe a very few major stars. And I don't think I've ever heard of her. I think the time when opera stars might have been much more common knowledge would have been the days before radio when you sat around and listened to the old Victrola through the days when radio was king and on into the days of TV variety shows. I believe the obituary said Risse retired in 1961- the year of my birth.

 

Gman

 

That's around the same time I was born and I definitely knew who she was because of GOING MY WAY but I also grew up in a household where classical music was a daily occurrence.

[Samai139]

Thanks for posting the sad news about Rise Stevens and for all those who commented.

The second photograph, which I had never seen, is impressive. A classical opera singer who became a classically beautiful woman in her old age---with wonderful white hair, age spots and lines. Bless her memory and bless her honesty.